Abstract [en]

Previous research suggests that it can be difficult to get visitors to read the texts in an exhibition. Hence, the present study investigates how narration techniques may be used in order to grab readers’ interest and create readable exhibition texts. The combined design and research project was led in collaboration with a Swedish local history association. The design brief was to create an exhibition text for a forthcoming exhibition about 17th century Swedish politician Axel Oxenstierna.

The study focused on the effects of five different narration techniques, namely style of speech, discourse structure, tense, figurative language in the form of metaphors and similes, and the use of adjectives. Based on analyses of preexisting exhibition texts, two prototypes of a narrative about Axel Oxenstierna were constructed.

Results from user testing then indicated that a reverse discourse structure creates curiosity for the story in question, that present tense facilitates reader involvement into the narrative, and that the use of figurative language and adjectives promotes the creation of mental imagery while reading. The style of speech in the narrative did not seem to have an impact on the reading experience.

These results suggest that the narration techniques examined in this study affect the readability of exhibition texts, and that a particular use of these techniques may be preferable in order to get visitors to read the texts. Research findings were then used to create a final version of the narrative exhibition text about Axel Oxenstierna.